On monday, my wife and I just returned from 2 hrs in french class and a 2 hr round trip drive and was looking forward to some relaxation.. When we got home, we received a voice mail message from a gentlemen (Fred) in Ireland (we live in southern France) asking for help in locating 2 Platinum wedding bands (one with a diamond) lost by his wife while they were attending a friend’s wedding in a town near Barcelona, Spain. He said that they were getting ready to leave Barcelona when they decided to just take one more dip in the sea and it was during this last dip in the sea that his wife lost her rings. She apparently was crying when she realized she was going to leave Spain without her rings. Fred had just returned to Ireland and said the rings were lost in 4 1/2 to 5 ft of water. He said some of his friends and a scuba diver all assisted him in searching for the rings without success. I told him that unfortuately, Spain is VERY restrictive to metal detecting and permission by the government is very difficult to obtain. Furthermore, I am more than a 4 hr drive from Barcelona. After some discussion, I told him that if he could get the local police to allow a search, I would respond if my costs were covered. When he called back, he said the police would not give permission but…. as long as they did not get any complaints, they would kindly ‘look the other way’. So, late monday evening, my wife, I and my dog left for a small town near Barcelona arriving there at 10 pm. Fred prepaid 2 nights at a 4 star hotel and I met his friends (the couple who got married) at the hotel. The next morning I started detecting in the dark at 5:15 am. I searched 1hr 45mins WITHOUT GETTING ONE TARGET!!! I couldn’t believe it and kept checking my Surf PI Dual Field thinking something was malfunctioning… nope, the detector was working fine! I was getting really depressed because this was such an important search and I was coming up empty handed. I have never seen a beach so ‘sterile’ of targets!! Finally, after 1hr 45 minutes I got a decent target near the place where the ring was reportedly lost. When I sifted the sand out of the scoop (in the dark) I reached into scoop and felt the target and determined it to be a ring. I then took out my waterproof flashlight to look at the ring and when the light hit the ring, all I saw was a diamond!! Thank God. I remained in the same spot and reached out with my detector in all directions and found the other ring about 2 ft away. When I got back to my room (still in the dark) my wife determined the rings were the correct ones and sent Fred a photo with an e-mail. Fred apparently was just waking up (time zone 1 hr earlier) but was quick to respond stating he could not believe it.. I was told that Fred’s wife was overjoyed upon hearing that the rings were found and needless to say, all the people in the wedding party were elated and the hotel staff were astonished. No one could believe the rings were found. You can imagine my sense of relief in finding the rings. The wedding couple said they know who to call if this ever happens again. Fred was very nice paid all my expenses (and a nice ‘bonus’ to boot). I only wish that I could have personally delivered the rings to the owner.. I gave the rings to the recently married couple and found that the rings will be personally delivered to the owner today.. Hope today is a joyful one for Fred and his wife…..

Response from Fred & Louise…. both preferred to not post name and photo but they were kind enough to post this e-mail…

We spent a weekend at a friends wedding in Barcelona. When throwing a ball In the sea I lost my wedding and engagement rings. Over 20 friends spent 2 hours searching but couldn’t find them. 2 local divers from the neighbouring boatyard then tried with scuba tanks but had no luck. We got on our plane back to Dublin thinking we’d never see the rings again.

My husband found Larry’s details online and after explaining the story, Larry and Marilyn, canceled their plans, jumped in the car and drove an amazing 7 hours to Barcelona. The next morning we woke to find an email from Larry with a photo of the rings